


Friends with Benefits

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: Friends With Benefits [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, missing year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 01:20:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7554637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once they start a sexual relationship, can Robin and Regina really remain 'just friends?'</p><p>Set during the missing year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends with Benefits

It wasn’t very late, but everyone had retired to their rooms for the night—it was a hot and stormy spring night, and the kind of night that could be miserable if it dragged on too long. Yet they’d both lingered in the drawing room, shifting awkwardly and making small talk about the unusually hot weather. Regina watched as sweat beaded on Robin’s forehead and when she turned her head just so, she could see the way his shirt stuck to his chest and arms, showing off his well-defined physique. She crosses her legs beneath her skirt, pressing her thighs together as her lip catches between her teeth as she wonders what else is hiding beneath those layers of clothing. 

His eyebrow arches in her direction, and it’s only then that she realizes their conversation has halted. He’s clearly caught her staring and she lets out a little laugh—she should be embarrassed and she should look away, but a hint of a smile edges onto his lips and she finds herself if it’s possible he’s thinking the same thing she is—wanting the same thing she wants.

“I suppose we should go upstairs,” she begins.

“Everyone else has,” he murmurs in reply. “There’s really not much else to do.”

“No,” she agrees. “There’s not.”

Over the course of the past few months, they’d fallen into something of a routine rooted in smirks and banter, a few serious, but fleeting conversations about loss and learning to move on, and every now and then the mutual loneliness they’d both become accustomed to. In those months, despite their rocky start, they’d gotten to know each other fairly well. There was a comradely between them and a comfort—a perhaps even a friendship, though she was sure they’d both deny it if anyone ever asked

“Can I…ask you something?” Regina says, her eyes slowly moving up to meet his. His eyes narrow and head tips to the side, obviously curious. “When was the last time you had sex?”

Robin’s lips part and he clears his throat, stammering something about it having been “quite a while.” A grin tugs at Regina’s corners of her lips as she arches an eyebrow and suggests that, perhaps, they should do something about that—it’s not like there’s anything else to do and she’s willing to venture he needs it as much as she does. He looks baffled—confused and unsure—and his head tilts as he asks what exactly she’s suggesting.

“Relax, I’m not asking you to marry me,” she laughs. “I’m just asking you to have sex with me.” She shrugs her shoulders. “Honestly, I can manage to get myself off without you, but…it’s usually more fun with another person. Don’t feel like you have to.”   

“No, no. I…want to,” he says a bit too quickly. “When I said ‘quite a while’ that was…quite an understatement.” He shifts awkwardly and takes a breath, chuckling softly as his eyes meet hers. “I’m just…surprised, that’s all.”

She smirks at his eager reply and his attempt to act casual about her proposition. Once more, she lets her eyes wander down his chest, imagining what lies beneath the sweat-soaked layers of fabric as she draws up her hands and surrounds them in a cloud of purple smoke. When it fades away, they’re standing naked in her bed chamber.

“You, uh, don’t waste time, do you?” She grins, as her eyes trail over him, glad not to have to imagine anymore and pleasantly surprised that the reality lived up to the fantasy. “I don’t suppose you want to…talk about this? Set some rules or boundaries or…” 

“That seems unnecessary,” she says, cutting in as she sits on the edge of the bed and leans back. “It seems quite simple to me.” She watches he looks her up and down and she grins at the obvious effect she’s having on him. “We’re just two people doing each other a favor.”

He nods, laughing a little. “You think of me as a friend,” he begins, his shoulders finally relaxing as he takes the first step toward her. “I’m touched.”  

“Don’t flatter yourself too much.”

“Well, I mean, it was only recently that you stopped looking at me with complete disdain, so I…”

“Robin,” she interjects, propping herself up on her elbows. “Shut up and kiss me.”

A smile twists onto his lips and he nods, crossing the room and placing one knee on the edge of the bed as he leans in, settling himself beside her. His lips crash down onto hers as her fingers wrap around his cock, twisting and pumping it in her fist until he’s fully erect. His kiss is wet and eager, deepening and intensifying as her fingers work their magic and they become more comfortable with each other. He rolls onto her as his lips trail from her mouth down her chest, settling on her stomach for a lingering moment. She breathes out a shallow breath, closing her eyes and pressing her head back into the pillows as his fingers slide through the wetness between her thighs—back and forth, circling around her clit, but not quite touching it—driving her crazy from both the contact and lack of it.  

“Mm, you’re so wet,” he murmurs gruffly, as he repositions himself between her legs. She grins and nods as the tip of his cock replaces his fingers, slipping over her slick folds, the tip bumping up against her clit. “I’d almost forgotten…”

“I know…me too…” she says, as her fingers move to her clit, circling roughly around it as he pulls back and parts her legs, spreading them. Her lip catches between her teeth as she bites down as he pushes in halfway, then withdraws momentarily, only to push back in a bit father before withdrawing once more—teasing her until she’s begging for more.

A low groan escapes him as he slides fully into her and he breathes out slowly, giving her a moment to adjust to him. Her breath catches and she swallows hard, unsure of how long she’s going to last. He feels so good—even just like this—and she gives a little nod, wanting more. His hips begin thrusting, slowly at first and then picking up the pace as they find a rhythm. She draws up her knees and he thrusts harder, placing his hands on her knees for support as his movements quicken. Her hips are moving, too, rolling up forward and backward in alternating patterns. Once more, she bites down on her bottom lip, as her eyes close and he breathily calls out her name.  

“Oh….oh, right there,” she sighs loudly, her head pressing firmly back into the pillows as her back arches upward as he continues to thrust his cock in and out, slowing his pace momentarily as her orgasm nears. “Don’t stop…” she tells him as he pulls out of her and pushes back in fully, this time pushing her knees up further as he slams against her. “ _Ohhhh_ …”

“I’m so close, Regina,” he murmurs in a hoarse voice as her muscles being to tighten around him. “You feel so good…” She can’t respond—instead her muscles continue to constrict and her body tightens as her fingers clutch the blanket, tugging and pulling at it as her hips buck against him. He lets outs a raspy groan and his head falls back as her orgasm pulls him over the edge and he explodes inside of her.

They stay together for a moment, both breathing heavily and attempting to catch their breath. Her eyes flutter open as he slips out of her, collapsing down at her side. Her lip catches between her teeth—her heart is racing and her thighs are sticky—she’d expected this part to be awkward, but when she looks over at him, it’s not.   

“I can’t believe we just…did that,” he laughs.

“I can’t either,” she replies, feeling her own laugh rising in her chest. “Had I know you were _that skilled_ , I’d have suggested that we do this a lot sooner.” 

His eyebrow arches, “So, it’s safe to say that you enjoyed yourself.” She laughs a little and nods. “And…so…it’s safe to say that…it’s something you’d want to do again sometime?”

“I don’t see why not,” she murmurs, as a slow smile spread across her lips. “We both have…needs.”

“And I have to admit, you were right—while I am perfectly capable of getting off myself, it is a lot better with another person.” Rolling her eyes, she turns her head back on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling as he sits up on the bed and takes a long breath. “Um, can I…ask you something?”

“Yeah,” she murmurs, looking back at him with hooded eyes, suddenly tired.

“Um, when you…brought us here,” he begins, squinting his eyes as he looks around the dark room. “I was clothed and then...I wasn’t.” He looks back at her, chuckling awkwardly. “Where are my pants?”

She blinks a couple of times—she hadn’t thought of it and she doesn’t have an answer—and then suddenly they’re both consumed with laughter.

_____

Regina’s hand slams against the frame of the door and she stalks forward, her skirt swishing angrily as she passes him. “I should have killed them all when I had the chance,” she scoffs, pushing herself into his bedroom, uninvited. “Had I done it then, I wouldn’t be so damn frustrated now.”

“Sure. Come on in,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “I’m not doing anything…” 

She turns and glares and he can’t help but chuckle. He always does this when she’s angry—he’s unable to take her seriously, seeing through her hot air and blustering—and while everyone else seems to duck and cover, he seems to prefer to walk directly into the storm. And though she’d deny it if anyone ever asked, she prefers it that way and is grateful whenever he’s willing to talk her off the proverbial ledge.

“Well, it’s really too bad you’re not a seer,” he says, trying to hide his smirk when her eyes widen. “Then you’d have known.”

“You’re not suggesting that this is _my_ fault.”

“Never…” 

She sighs and crosses her arms over her chest. “You’re such a bad liar.” 

An hour before they’d been sitting at the round table, discussing Zelena’s latest attack—and as always, it was brought up that the wicked witch was her sister and as always, it was subtly suggested that that somehow made this whole predicament her fault. This time, Charming had brought it up and Snow half-heartedly reminded him that not even this could be blamed on the Evil Queen. For a brief moment, there was a glimmer of hurt in her eyes before it turned to something else—first annoyance, then anger. And then, right on cue, her little dwarf friend chimed in, reminding them that it wouldn’t be the first time she deceived them—and it’d started all over again.  

“Damn it,” she sighs, her jaw tensing all over again as she thinks of it, hating that she feels more hurt than anger. 

“Perhaps,” Robin begins as he tosses aside the book he’d been reading and sits up on the bed. “You could take your frustration out _another_ way.”

Her eyebrow arches as she turns to him, “You’re _honestly_ suggesting…”

“Honestly,” he says, cutting in as his smile grows sly. “It might help...take the edge off.”

She rolls her eyes, “I’m not exactly in the mood for a cuddle buddy.” 

“Who said anything about cuddling?” He counters, getting off of the bed to stand in front of her. Her lips purse as she considers it. It’s not an odd suggestion—they’ve been regularly sleeping together for months now, but their encounters generally happen long after the rest have gone to bed, not in the middle of the afternoon and never when she was feeling like _this_ , with rage bubbling inside of her. “We’re not doing this for the romance,” he tells her plainly as her eyes narrow. “It’s up to you—you continue slamming your fists against walls and seething with anger or you could get it all our and slam me up against a wall.” He shrugs, “Your choice…m’lady.”  

She starts to take a step toward him, thinking of the way they’d mocked her and the distrust that settled in their eyes as they remembered and a laundry list of her sins was named; but she stops and balls her hands into fists. “Where’s Roland?”

“Ice fishing with the Merry Men,” he tells her. “He’ll be gone until sundown.”

She nods and again, considers—and there is something tantalizing about shoving him up against the wall and letting her frustration pour out, riding him until she can’t remember why she’d felt so angry and afterward, feeling too sated to care. And then she does it, pushing him roughly up against the hard stone wall, her lips sucking angrily at his. She pins his arms and she feels a smile pull onto his lips—he’s enjoying this.

And somehow, knowing that only fuels her. 

Her hands slide up his chest and her fingers grip at his shirt, pulling it out of his pants and ripping the thin fabric. She breaks the kiss and he grins, licking his lips as his eyes focus on hers. She reaches for his belt, tugging roughly at it until its come undone. She looks down between them and loosens the grip on his arms—and then, unexpectedly, he pushes back and a moment later, they’re toppling down onto his bed. He laughs out and she feels a hint of a smile forming on her lips as he fumbles with the small buttons on her dress. Her annoyance piques when he makes no progress and with a wave of her hand, the dress is removed along with his remaining layers.

“Of course,” he murmurs, shaking his head, knowing she’s never been one for patience.

Pushing at his shoulder, she pushes him into his back, moving over him and straddling his waist. She hovers over him, lowering herself and dragging her lips down his chest. He sighs and she grins, feeling him hardening beneath her. Slowly she starts to rock her hips, rubbing his slick folds against him. Pressing her palms into his chest she grinds down harder, enjoying the feel of him against her—but it’s not enough.

She pulls herself up and then sinks down onto him him, riding him until she’s breathless. She leans back, slowing her pace as her hands slide down the back of his legs to his knees. She swallows hard and reaches for his hand, placing it against her sleek skin, breathing out a low moan as his hand slides from her stomach to her breast. She continues to rock her hips, closing her eyes as his other hand moves to her clit, circling roughly over it and making her whimper.

And then he shifts them, flipping her onto her back and pinning her to the mattress as he thrusts into her, over and over again with an increasingly quickening pace. Her eyes open but she has trouble focusing and when his lips meet her neck, she lets out pleasured cry. Still, he continues to thrust as she writhes beneath him as her orgasm ripples through her.

He’s breathing heavily, nearly panting when he picks up the pace, drawing her knees up into the crooks of his arms as he drives in deeper. She feels him jerk inside of her, balls tightening as his own orgasm comes and pushes her to another climax.

“Still angry?” He breathes out as he rolls off of her, grinning as she shakes her head—though she’s not quite sure what she feels, she’s certain that anger isn’t it. “I told you this would work.”

“You’re really…going to gloat?” She asks, her heart still racing.

His smile deepens as he looks over at her. “Well, it’s not like I often have the opportunity with you.” 

Rolling her eyes, she swats at his arm and pushes her head back into the pillow—thoughts of the round table as far away from her memory as possible.

______

Regina lets out a shaky breath as Robin slips into her room, a candle in front of him to guide the way. She’s sitting on the bed with her knees pulled against her chest, her arms folded around them. She smiles meekly as he nears, blowing out the candle as she comes into sight. he easy grin he wore a moment before quickly begins to fade away.  

 “I know what I said earlier, but…I’m not really…in the mood to do this tonight.” She shakes her head and looks away, fully expecting him to wish her a good night and to leave; but he doesn’t do that. Instead, he sits down on the edge of her bed and he asks her what’s wrong, listening patiently as she confesses her worries about the curse. Its set—a plan is in place and she has everything she needs, and she’s confident that the plan will work.

“But you don’t want to go back,” he murmurs as she looks back at him.

She nods. “It’s going to be so hard…being there, without Henry.”

Robin smiles gently, reaching out and touching his fingers to her knee. “I can only imagine.”

“I just…I keep thinking about going home and how lonely the house is going to feel…how quiet it’ll be.” Her face crumples as tears well in her eyes. “And his room will be there, with all of his things and…and everywhere I look, I’ll be reminded that he’s not there anymore.” Sniffling back her tears, her eyes meet his. “All of my memories—the happy memories of I have of my son will feel painful. And what’s worse is that he’ll be so close, but so unreachable.”  

“Could you go to him? Could you…find him?”

“No,” she says in a barely audible voice. “I can’t. He won’t remember me. I’m…nothing to him.”

Robin sighs and she watches him shift himself upward so that he’s sitting beside her on the bed and leaning back against the pillows. He stretches his arm around her shoulders and her head falls onto his. She feels him take a breath before he squeezes her tighter, then rests his head atop hers as she gives in to her tears.

“Even if he doesn’t remember you,” Robin murmurs in a soft voice. “You will never be nothing to him.”

Turing her head up, she looks at him through teary eyes and smiles sadly—the sentiment is nice and she wants desperately to find comfort in it; yet all she can think about is the emptiness she felt resonating within herself as she watched him drive away with Emma, knowing that she’d be forgotten, and she remembers those first weeks in the Enchanted Forest when she was consumed by her grief, so lost in it that she hadn’t wanted to live. 

“It’s going to be alright,” he murmurs as he presses a light kiss into her hair. “I promise you. It’s going to be alright.”

Her eyes fall away from his and again, she wishes she could believe him. “It’s going to be so lonely without him.” She lets out a shaky breath. “And being alone is the worst curse imaginable.”

He knows her well enough to know that she’s speaking from experience. She’s told him about those long, lonely years before Henry—how the days and weeks and months bled together, how nothing separated the years, and how she came to envy the cursed because least they had each other.

Robin pulls her closer, taking a breath as his fingers stroke lightly up and down her arm. “It may be lonely, but you won’t be alone.”  Again, he presses a kiss to her hair. “It’s no consolation, I’m sure, but you’ll always have me, Regina. No matter what, you’ll always have a friend in me.”   

Nodding, she cuddles in closer, tilting up her head to look at him. Her eyes search his, finding in them softness and sincerity and finding that it is a consolation to have him. He’s gotten her through nearly a year—reminding her of her strength, being a willing distraction, allowing her to vent and actually listening when she did. He made a terrible situation easier—making her smile and making her laugh, reminding her little by little that she was still alive and though, heartbroken, there were still there could be moments of contentment and even of happiness.

“Is that…what we are?” She asks, peering up at him. “I don’t have much to compare it to. I’ve never actually…had a friend before.”

“That’s what we are,” he assures her. His lips purse, but he doesn’t say anything more; instead, he leans in and places a light kiss on her forehead and hugs her closer. His fingers continue to stroke up and down her arm and he holds her long after her tears have stopped.  

Slowly, she turns her face up and her lips brush over his. She’s hesitant and unsure, but she continues on, shifting herself in his arms. Her tongue runs along the seam of his lips, then along just his bottom lip, waiting to her invitation to proceed. Gently, he pulls back. “Regina, we don’t have to…”

“I want to,” she cuts in, her voice hushed and desperate. “I…need to.” Taking a breath, she looks at him. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.” So, he nods and leans in, letting her continue—and for a moment, she wonders if he can feel the difference in her kiss. Regardless of if he does, he kisses her back—slow and sweet—as she shifts into his lap.  

The back of his fingers stroke her cheek and he pulls back slightly, resting his forehead against hers. She reaches between them, pulling at his shirt, but he takes hold of her hand and gives it a soft squeeze. “Let’s take our time, okay?” She nods as he leans back in, kissing her cheek and then her lips, then trailing to her neck and back up to her jaw and down her throat to the other side. Her eyes close and her head falls back—and she glad to lose herself in his soft kisses and gentle touches.

He lays back, pulling her down with him and her lips find his neck, focusing on one particular spot as she breathes him in and the faint smell of forest consumes her. Slowly, the thin layers of clothing that separate them are removed and each item shed is replaced by warm hands.

Regina turns, rolling onto her side. She’s facing Robin and for a moment, their eyes meet and once more, she wonders if he feels any difference. Brushing away the thought she leans in, her lips quickly find his as his as he pulls her leg over his hip. They’re as close as possible as he slips inside of her; and she can feel his breath hitch momentarily as hers does the same. Her thoughts slow as their bodies move together—his thrusts are slow and her kisses are eager, and for a few fleeting moments, she’s able to forget it all and just be in the moment. 

She lets out a muffled whimper against his mouth as he slumps into her, both spent and sated. He pulls back slightly, but she finds herself reaching for him. “Can you stay?” she asks, averting his eyes. “At least a little longer…”

“Of course, I will,” he whispers in reply as he leans in and rests his head atop hers. “After all, what are friends for?”

She smiles gently and nods, closing her eyes as his hand rubs soothing circles against the bare skin of her back, and she tries to remember how all of this began or when things started to change for her. It’s hard to remember though or perhaps it’s just that she doesn’t know, but when he holds her as he does now, she’s not sure that it matters. And she feels like maybe he’s right, things really will be alright—and at the very least, she’s glad to have a friend to help her through.


End file.
